Matthew 6:33

I'm doing a home study on seeking God first, and pulled these scriptures
up, the vast majority nearly all say the same thing while a handful change
up the meaning and a couple do so making the text completely different
than the rest.

In the context of our daily lives as believers how should this verse be followed?



Parallel Verses

New International Version
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

English Standard Version
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Berean Study Bible
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Berean Literal Bible
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

New American Standard Bible
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

King James Bible
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

International Standard Version
But first be concerned about God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be provided for you as well.

NET Bible
But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

New American Standard 1977
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

Jubilee Bible 2000
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

King James 2000 Bible
But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

American King James Version
But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

American Standard Version
But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Darby Bible Translation
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

English Revised Version
But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Webster's Bible Translation
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

World English Bible
But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

Young's Literal Translation
but seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you.

The ones below have a different flavor from all of those above.
The scriptures above are all saying "Seek first God's Kingdom, and
God's righteousness.
The ones below shift the message a little, where they agree is God's
Kingdom, where they disagree is on the verbiage about God's righteousness.
The a couple of scriptures below have just righteousness as an aim, or
live righteously which is different than God's righteousness.
One speaks to God's justice which departs the word righteousness, and
the other has us looking for God's approval which is not God's righteousness.

Weymouth New Testament
But make His Kingdom and righteousness your chief aim, and then these things shall all be given you in addition.

New Living Translation
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Originally posted by KellyJay
I'm doing a home study on seeking God first, and pulled these scriptures
up, the vast majority nearly all say the same thing while a handful change
up the meaning and a couple do so making the text completely different
than the rest.

In the context of our daily lives as believers how should this verse be followed?



Parallel Verses

New Interna ...[text shortened]... erefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

KJV

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

I think the verse is saying to seek both God's kingdom and his righteousness, and the consequence is that those things listed in the context from which it is taken will be provided by God.

I don't think there is a separation necessarily between God's kingdom and his righteousness. I think they are invariably linked.

Originally posted by KellyJay
I'm doing a home study on seeking God first, and pulled these scriptures
up, the vast majority nearly all say the same thing while a handful change
up the meaning and a couple do so making the text completely different
than the rest.

In the context of our daily lives as believers how should this verse be followed?



Parallel Verses

New Interna ...[text shortened]... erefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

To understand what Jesus is saying there, the following verses need to be understood together as the teachings of Jesus while He walked the Earth in toto.
Matthew 6
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In the above, Jesus is exhorting His followers to seek to make themselves righteous as God is righteous, i.e., live in "His kingdom". They are to do this first and foremost instead of seeking "treasures on Earth".

Originally posted by josephw
KJV

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

I think the verse is saying to seek both God's kingdom and his righteousness, and the consequence is that those things listed in the context from which it is taken will be provided by God.

I don't think there is a separation necessarily between God's kingdom and his righteousness. I think they are invariably linked.

Do you think it is important that we are told to seek not only God's Kingdom, but also
God's righteousness? I think it important that we are called to do both and if you think
about it the seeking of God's Kingdom isn't a man made one, and also God's
righteousness would not be setting out to establish our own either.

In both cases God is now needed since when we reach out to Him on our own we cannot
muster up either without Him! He must let us enter His Kingdom and His righteousness
is His to give away to us. If we do good works to earn God righteousness that would make
it our own righteousness that we earned and worked for, and with that effort we earn
entrance into God's Kingdom by our own efforts not by grace.

If it is God's to give it to whom He will than it comes from Him only and not by our own
efforts. A hard pill to swallow if one is trying to get right with God by being better than
the next guy, but also being better than God's accepted standards of entry into God's
Kingdom.

Originally posted by KellyJay
Do you think it is important that we are told to seek not only God's Kingdom, but also
God's righteousness? I think it important that we are called to do both and if you think
about it the seeking of God's Kingdom isn't a man made one, and also God's
righteousness would not be setting out to establish our own either.

In both cases God is now needed si ...[text shortened]...
the next guy, but also being better than God's accepted standards of entry into God's
Kingdom.

To understand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 6:33, the following verses from The Sermon on the Mount also need to be understood together

Matthew 5:20“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 6:33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Matthew 7:23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

In the above, Jesus tells His followers that to enter the kingdom of heaven:
1) Ones righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.
2) One must seek that righteousness by doing the will of His Father.
3) One cannot continue to "practice lawlessness", i.e., continue to commit sin. That those who do so will be told to "depart".

Jesus closes The Sermon on the Mount by emphasizing that one must both HEAR and ACT on His words:
Matthew 7
24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27“The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Originally posted by KellyJay
Do you think it is important that we are told to seek not only God's Kingdom, but also
God's righteousness? I think it important that we are called to do both and if you think
about it the seeking of God's Kingdom isn't a man made one, and also God's
righteousness would not be setting out to establish our own either.

In both cases God is now needed si ...[text shortened]...
the next guy, but also being better than God's accepted standards of entry into God's
Kingdom.

You refer to:
- Gods righteousness
- Own righteousness / Own efforts

Paul says:

Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Clearly one has to submit to the righteousness of God.

How does one do that?

Originally posted by Rajk999
You refer to:
- Gods righteousness
- Own righteousness / Own efforts

Paul says:

Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Clearly one has to submit to the righteousness of God.

How does one do that?

If there is a righteousness of ours and one of God's then lets start with ours, what does that
look like? Then what does God's look like?

Our righteousness is how good we are, by good the things we do and don't do according
to the standards by both God and ourselves put forward.

A quick look at scripture shows us a couple of ways our righteousness before God is
established. From the OT we see our faith in God by believing in Him and our obeying
the Lord in all things.

Genesis 15:6
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Deuteronomy 6:25
And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

We start getting warnings on how difficult obeying God in all things are in several places
in the NT. In the book of Matt we see that as to the letter that the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law were we had to be better than them. We also see if we are doing our
good works before men to be seen by them we loose them before God.

Matthew 5:20
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 6:1
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Returning to God's righteousness this isn't something we can earn, it must be received
by us from God. We require God because in Christ Jesus we have good works to that
have been prepared in advance for us to do.
"created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."


Romans 1:17
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 3:22
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

Ephesians 2
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Originally posted by KellyJay
If there is a righteousness of ours and one of God's then lets start with ours, what does that
look like? Then what does God's look like?

Our righteousness is how good we are, by good the things we do and don't do according
to the standards by both God and ourselves put forward.

A quick look at scripture shows us a couple of ways our righteousness b ...[text shortened]... handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

You are not making it clear what you mean by "our righteousness". The verses you quote does not make it clear either.

God's righteousness according to your quote, means the righteousness which is of FAITH.

Am I getting your meaning right? If I am, then what exactly is faith ? Faith is defined in many ways by different people. What is your definition.

Originally posted by Rajk999
You are not making it clear what you mean by "our righteousness". The verses you quote does not make it clear either.

God's righteousness according to your quote, means the righteousness which is of FAITH.

Am I getting your meaning right? If I am, then what exactly is faith ? Faith is defined in many ways by different people. What is your definition.

Our righteousness is completely dependent upon our actions and inactions I gave two
examples from scripture.

I suggest instead of worrying about the word "faith" you should study that scripture!
My ways of defining any word used is meaningless it is how the scripture spells things out
that matters not what I think!

For me what this is getting at is our lives need to be turned over to God, He becomes
our way, our truth, our life and we become dependent and obedient to Him. Without Him
we can do nothing! So our lives we will walk out with Him in the faith He gives us for
even our faith is a gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Originally posted by KellyJay
Our righteousness is completely dependent upon our actions and inactions I gave two
examples from scripture.

I suggest instead of worrying about the word "faith" you should study that scripture!
My ways of defining any word used is meaningless it is how the scripture spells things out
that matters not what I think!

For me what this is getting at is ...[text shortened]... grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

I suspect the reason why you will shy away from defining faith is that the Bible SPELLS OUT two kinds of faith:
- Living Faith
- Dead Faith.

Living faith leads to a life which involves obedience to God and to the commandments of Christ, which leads to eternal life. While a dead faith is an expression of belief with ones mouth only, and not of the heart, and this leads to eternal death.

Either way you are throwing yourself in the bamboo with every sentence because all your toing and froing will lead you back to the commandments of Christ which are mostly in Matt 5,6 &7.

You also said this For me what this is getting at is our lives need to be turned over to God, He becomes
our way, our truth, our life and we become dependent and obedient to Him. Without Him
we can do nothing

So tell me then -
How does one turn their lives over to God.?
How does God become our way, our truth, out life ?
How does one become obedient to Him?

The answer is by following the commandments of Christ.
And ones faith should make someone want to do that.
The scripture SPELLS OUT that very clearly.

Originally posted by Rajk999
I suspect the reason why you will shy away from defining faith is that the Bible SPELLS OUT two kinds of faith:
- Living Faith
- Dead Faith.

Living faith leads to a life which involves obedience to God and to the commandments of Christ, which leads to eternal life. While a dead faith is an expression of belief with ones mouth only, and not of the heart ...[text shortened]... And ones faith should make someone want to do that.
The scripture SPELLS OUT that very clearly.

I'm telling you to stick to the scriptures, you must have a living faith and the only way to
have that is through Jesus Christ. If you read the scriptures I gave you they support
God's Spirit in our lives to do the works of God.

At no time did I write or imply that you only have to give mouth service the Lord. If you
care to point out where I did I'll correct myself.

If this is just an attempt to reject what I have said by making claims about my meaning
that cannot be backed up with quoting me, but instead these are things you are
suggesting I mean as you read my mind! I cannot defend or will I things I have not said or
implied.

You really do not know how to turn your life over God?
You don't know that God *Jesus* is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for you?
You don't know how to obey God?

2 Corinthians 3:3
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:6
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Originally posted by KellyJay
I'm telling you to stick to the scriptures, you must have a living faith and the only way to
have that is through Jesus Christ. If you read the scriptures I gave you they support
God's Spirit in our lives to do the works of God.

At no time did I write or imply that you only have to give mouth service the Lord. If you
care to point out where I did I'll ...[text shortened]... w covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

You refused to define faith. Did you not? I asked because the SCRIPTURE SAID that there is more than one kind.

I am sticking to the scriptures.

I also answered the question of how to give your live to God and I said in my last post that it is by following the commandments of Christ.

Originally posted by Rajk999
You refused to define faith. Did you not? I asked because the SCRIPTURE SAID that there is more than one kind.

I am sticking to the scriptures.

I also answered the question of how to give your live to God and I said in my last post that it is by following the commandments of Christ.

To be clear, you are asking me what I think about the word "faith" my opinion?
I will answer you, but you better start answering my questions to you if this is what you
want.

I also do not have problem one talking about how to live for God, but again we can
share scriptures and discuss what one another means or not.

I will not be a part of a discussion where I can get asked what I think and I am not allowed
to ask you what you think.

Originally posted by KellyJay
To be clear, you are asking me what I think about the word "faith" my opinion?
I will answer you, but you better start answering my questions to you if this is what you
want.

I also do not have problem one talking about how to live for God, but again we can
share scriptures and discuss what one another means or not.

I will not be a part of a discussion where I can get asked what I think and I am not allowed
to ask you what you think.

I have answered your questions and made additional comments.
Do you still have a problem?

Originally posted by Rajk999
I have answered your questions and made additional comments.
Do you still have a problem?

I prefer Hebrews explanation on the word faith it fits well in how God has us walking out
out lives. It is living out our hope in the full assurance that God is, and that God is a true
keeper of His word. I will not have a problem with discussing this or anything else as long
as there is an equal amount of give and take.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.